FILE SAO LUIS 2017 – don’t let the wave slip away | CCVM – Centro Cultural Vale Maranhao
FILE SAO LUIS 2017
don’t let the wave slip away
From April 5th to June 4th
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FILE, for the first time in the northeast of Brazil.
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In the exhibition “FILE Sao Luis 2017” we present for the first time in the Northeast of Brazil a cut from FILE – Electronic Language International Festival, with virtual reality works using 3D glasses, interactive and non-interactive installations, games and animations.
The coming of FILE to Sao Luis indicates the tendency of the close connection of the art with the recent technological developments. Art has always been the result of the application of techniques in the development of poetics. Now, increasingly, recent digital technologies are being applied by the artists in the creation of different experiments, hence the importance of showing what has been accomplished by the creators who deal with this interrelationship in different regions of Brazil and the world.
For 18 year, FILE promotes exhibitions, workshops and meetings whose objective is to foster the debate on the interrelationship between art and technology. With annual events in Sao Paulo, exhibitions in Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte, Curitiba and Porto Alegre, as well as the participation in international events, the festival is the biggest event of electronic art in Latin America.
In this edition in Sao Luís, the public has the opportunity to live different experiences in our world or in other fictional worlds through total immersion in virtual reality with the use of 3D glasses. In “Be Boy Be Girl”, by Frederik Duerinck & Marleine van der Werf, we are invited to visit a beach in Hawaii, choosing to be in the body of a man or a woman. In “The Night Cafe”, by Mac Cauley, it is possible to explore the world of the paintings by Van Gogh and even meeting the painter himself in an animated version. In “Swing”, by Christin Marczinzik & Thi Binh Minh Nguyen, the dream of flying becomes reality. Sitting on a swing, the bigger the movement applied by the visitor, the brighter the colors of the world experienced.
In addition to the experiences in virtual reality, the dialog between the physical world and the digital world is possible through different interfaces, which involve the interaction of the visitor through word and body. The works of the Brazilians Rejane Cantoni and Leonardo Crescenti “Fala” (Speak), “Túnel” (Tunnel) and “Piso” (Floor) are machines that respond to actions like speaking and walking on a floor or a tunnel. In the work “Piso”, a wave that goes back and forth can be felt by others who walk, sit or lie on the installation. In “Starry Night”, by Petros Vrellis, it is possible to change the iconic flows of an animated version of the work “Starry Night”, by Van Gogh, by touching the screen.
In a non-interactive line, “Vídeo-Boleba”, by Celina Portella, shows the passage from the digital world to the physical through the game of marbles, that leave the plane of the screen and spread through the gallery’s space. In turn, “Hardwired”, by Marcel Van Brakel & Frederik Duerinck, consists of about 18,000 LED lights in a physical network, which symbolizes the transfer of knowledge that occurs in the synaptic networks of our brain.
The acquaintance with different experiences in our world or in other fictional worlds is also possible in the selection of electronic games and animations. Yet among the installations, in “Journey”, by That Game Company, it is possible to walk through dunes and ancient ruins. The objective is to reach the top of the mountain, but the experience involves the discovery of who you are and what your purpose is. In addition to the installations, FILE Anima+Games gathers animations and games in the same event, with the intention of highlighting aspects that would go unnoticed if shown in its own logic. On the one hand, the animations with their own creation and production strategies, with its already known influence by the cinema, and on the other, the games, with the notorious problematic between narratology and ludology, but also among the games and the metagame.
This is an unprecedented visit of FILE to the Northeast of Brazil. Don’t let the wave slip away!
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INSTALLATIONS
Celina Portella – Vídeo-Boleba – Brazil
The “Vídeo-Boleba” installation is composed by a TV set and a mechanism that shoots marbles. In the video, two boys take turns playing the marbles, which appear at the side of the screen when they leave the frame, scattering in the space close to the public, and giving continuity to the scene in the material world.
While the video seeks a faithful representation of reality, its unfolding outside the screen seeks to replicate the image. The device created by the artist swindles the spectator’s eye, confusing its perception, creating interfaces with “new spaces”, and articulating material reality and the virtual world.
This project was developed through Edital de Apoio à Pesquisa e Criação Artística 2011 from Secretaria de Estado de Cultura of Rio de Janeiro.
Christin Marczinzik & Thi Binh Minh Nguyen – Swing – Germany
Swings have always held a special fascination for us. As children, we used to play with them. Today we like to reminisce about the enjoyment which we felt while swinging. We felt disconnected from reality, weightless and free.
“Swing” brings these feelings back and makes a dream come true: the dream of flying. Thus, the swing becomes a physical component of an interactive installation. The use of 3D oculus enhances the swinging experience with virtual reality, creating a unique immersive adventure and sending you to a crafted watercolor world.
While swinging you leave the drab monotony of everyday life behind, find a place to ease your mind and regain your strength. You rise smoothly into the virtual world. The flight level depends on how long and how high you actually swing.
The starting point in the digital world is the same as in the physical world: the ground. Here everything is pale and dull. When you have the courage to swing more intensively, you will fly higher and the vibrancy of colors will increase. The climax is in space. Upon reaching it the world reaches its maximum in color intensity. If you want to go down, you have to stop swinging, but the colors around you will stay vivid and bright.
Frederik Duerinck & Marleine van der Werf – Be Boy Be Girl – The Netherlands
“Be Boy Be Girl” is a multi-sensory experiment that engages sight, hearing, touch, and smell. In the experience, our bodies become more than just our eyes and ears. They are the vehicles to experience and challenge reality.
In the installation, we create an illusion by activating all senses by a combination of smell, touch (through infrared light and a fan), image (with 360 degree 3D film glasses) and omni sound.
The shooting of the 360 degree 3D film material took place on Hawaii and was filmed with 16 cameras on a self build rig. This camera-rig was placed on top of the head of several man and woman to recreate the same perspective as our audience will have in the installation. The omni audio which changes perspective while the viewer turns his head was specially created for the installation.
Lindsay Grace – Big Huggin’ – A Bear for Affection Gaming – United States
“Big Huggin’” is an affection game designed for use with a custom teddy bear controller. Players complete the game by providing several well-timed hugs to a 30 inch teddy bear. “Big Huggin’” is an art gesture and game system. The work is displayed as a playable game with a single control – a teddy bear wired for affection. The controller allows for varied levels of hugging, so the player must be careful to hug (not squeeze) the stuffed bear using their entire body.
Mac Cauley – The Night Cafe – United States
“The Night Cafe” is an immersive VR environment that allows you to explore the world of Vincent van Gogh first hand. Take a moment to enjoy his iconic sunflowers in 3 dimensions or walk around the chair he painted in his bedroom to see it from another angle. Step into the vivid colors straight from his palette.
Petros Vrellis – Starry Night – Greece
This is an interactive installation based on Van Gogh’s masterpiece “Starry Night”. The iconic flows of original painting come to life, as an animation. Furthermore, the visitor can interact with the painting, altering the flows by touching. Any influence is temporary and the animation gradually returns to its original state. The background music also responds to the flow. The installation provides an immersive interpretation of the original masterpiece that can be used for “re-discovering” classical art and serve educational purposes.
POLYMORF: Marcel Van Brakel & Frederik Duerinck – Hardwired – The Netherlands
“Hardwired” consists of around 18,000 LED-lights that symbolize the transfer of knowledge. Individual luminous pixels connect and then disappear. In a process of constant transformation, new patterns, interrelations and complexities emerge.
The installation was developed by POLYMORF with alumni from the Department of Communication Media Design at the Avans University of Applied Science in Breda.
Credits:
Lead designer: Marcel van Brakel (POLYMORF), Frederik Duerinck (POLYMORF)
Coding: Dominggus Salampessy, Peter Schmidt
Rejane Cantoni & Leonardo Crescenti – Fala – Brazil
An autonomous, interactive speaking machine, designed to establish automatic communication and synchronization between humans and machines, and between machines and machines. In the installation, a microphone makes the interface with a “choir” of forty cellphones. The whole equipment is ready to capture voices and other sounds. The autonomous speaking machine analyzes the information and establishes equivalences with its memory. In positive cases, the machine generates an audiovisual result with a semantic meaning similar to the captured sound, i.e., it speaks and shows on the screens an identical or similar word to that of the listened word. Soundboxes and the visualization of words on the cellphone screens make a “dialogue” possible, and humans can listen and see the machines chatting.
Rejane Cantoni & Leonardo Crescenti – Piso – Brazil
“Floor” is an interactive interface designed to transfer strength and movement data in the human-human relation and the human-space-time relation. The action of stepping on one of the two ends of the machine produces a wave that is displaced in the direction equivalent to the action. For the other users (not interactors), it is worth noting that the wave in movement lifts the steel plate and the assemblage lifts who or what is on it.
Rejane Cantoni & Leonardo Crescenti – Túnel – Brazil
“Tunnel” is a kinetic, immersive and interactive sculpture, composed of 92 porticos that become disordered in function of the position and body mass of the interactor. Numerous users can simultaneously enter and interact with the machine. Interactors agency the machine via their position and weight. An example of interaction is: you go into the “Tunnel” and stand by one of the side walls. In this case, the relative position and the gravitational force of your body provoke variations of floor height. The floor inclines up to 5º, the associated porticos progressively rotate in the corresponding direction and angle, and this propagates undulatory movements throughout the entire installation. For the outside observer, the internal movement or your displacement in relation to the installation produces kinetic optic effects.
That Game Company – Journey – United States
“Journey” is an interactive parable, an anonymous online adventure to experience a person’s life passage and their intersections with other’s. You wake alone and surrounded by miles of burning, sprawling desert, and soon discover the looming mountaintop which is your goal. Faced with rolling sand dunes, age-old ruins, caves and howling winds, your passage will not be an easy one. The goal is to get to the mountaintop, but the experience is discovering who you are, what this place is, and what is your purpose.
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FILE ANIMA+GAMES
Curatorship: Raquel Fukuda
GAMES
1 Asteroid Base – Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime – Canada
2 Bedtime Digital Games – Back to Bed – Denmark
3 House House – Push Me Pull You – Australia
4 Media Molecule – Tearaway Unfolded – England
ANIMATIONS
1 Adrian Flury – A Place I’ve Never Been – Switzerland
2 Anthony Rousseau – My Last Round – France
3 Camilo Colmenares – Quimtai – Germany
4 Christo Guelov – White Cubes | DLC2015 – Spain
5 Daniela Krajcova – Stability – Slovakia
6 David Mussel – Cartas – Brazil
7 Fabricio Lima & Marcelo Jeneci – Um de nós – Brazil
8 Henning M. Lederer – Anatomic – Germany
9 Jan Goldfuß – 2=1(+1=n) (Cold Memories 2) – Germany
10 Jorge F. – Nightmare Endless – Brazil
11 Leandro Angare – O Sapato – Brazil
12 Matthew Schoen – Vehicles – Canada
13 Milan Zulic – The Circle of life – Serbia
14 Ove Pictures: Veronika Obertova & Michaela Copikova – Nina – Slovakia
15 Peter Whittenberger – What’s the Worst that Can Happen? – United States
16 Sandrine Deumier, Sonia Paço-Rocchia & Philippe Lamy – [Play;] – France
17 Sandra Crisp – Auroville Dream (Tales from the City) – England
18 s-ara – Telephonophobia – Portugal
19 Tiny Inventions: Ru Kuwahata & Max Porter – Perfect Houseguest – United States
20 Uwe Heine Debrodt – Fotosintetico – Mexico